DIFC looks to Asia for next 10 yrs of growth

DUBAI, July 6 (Gulf News): The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has helped grow Dubai's banking and financial industry from 6.0 to 7.0 per cent of Dubai's GDP in 2005 to more than 11 per cent today, after 10 years of strong growth the DIFC is now looking to companies from new markets in the Far East to keep growing.

"In the next 10 years we will be looking to new geographical frontiers in China and Africa," said Eisa Kazim, Governor of the DIFC, in an exclusive interview with the news agency to mark the DIFC's 10 years of operations.

"We are encouraging more companies to come to Dubai and the DIFC from South East Asia and the Far East, including China, Korea, Japan and India. Strategically speaking, we need to expand in new geographical areas outside our initial base of companies from Europe and North America," he said.

"We have been very successful in bring the top companies in finance and real economy activities like trading. These companies of the new global economy see Dubai as the centre of several connecting regions, including Asia and Africa."

The top four Chinese banks are already active in Dubai as the city is becoming a major hub for Chinese operations in Africa, and the DIFC is adding value to that relationship. Kazim said that he and a senior team from the DIFC had just come back from an important visit to China during which they met all the major banks, the regulators and the Central Bank, as well as re-insurance companies and assent managers, all of whom are looking at Dubai as a base for their operations in the wider region.

 "Chinese companies want to work with Chinese banks, and many Chinese companies are already in Dubai as they trade into Africa. They would like a cluster of Chinese banks and other skills to support them. We recognised how much the Chinese want to expand in Dubai," said Kazim.

In addition, another important strand of the DIFC's future growth is financial companies from the GCC. "The GCC is under-represented to date considering its financial institutions and their ability to serve the region," he said.